Misty's Guide to Shimmer and Shine

Chapters

Foreword: How to ask for assistance
How to Cast with Confidence
How to Fight with the Fear
How to Perform with Pizzaz
How to Investigate with Introspection
How to Descend with Delicacy
How to Relax with Research
How to Teleport with Tenacity
How to Walk between Worlds
How to Fail your Friends
How to Shimmer and Shine - Part 1
How to Shimmer and Shine - Part 2
How to Save your Saviour
Epilogue: How to Crash a Coronation

Foreword: How to ask for assistance

Hi all!

Before we start I thought I’d give a little context!

If you haven’t read An Empathetic Heart I’d highly Recommend you check it out before reading this! It’s only about 3k words long ^^ its not required, though!

Anyway! A quick summary of that!

Misty and Sunset shimmer met after sunset accidentally summoned Misty to a small cabin in bridlewood, where they find a shared connection when it comes to empathy.

As they connect, two new elements of harmony are created. One for Sunset, one for Misty. Both are elements of empathy. Sunset heads back to canterlot high and Misty heads back to the bridge house.

Another thing to note! In this story, G5 is in another dimension from G4, similar to the world of equestria girls. This is mainly to solve any Time travel related issues that may crop up Lmao

In this world, MLP fim happened normally until about the end of season 7, where Opaline rocked up and messed everything up, leading to the division between the pony clan! So its an au dw twiggle did great in the main timeline

This does mean that. there are 3 different dimensions in play ksadbfabfbf with sunset being from mainline equestria, going to equestria girls and now she's in g5 but dw about that it won't actually come up KAJSBDJASd sobs

I have two other short stories on my page, named no Bravery in her Gaze and Sometimes, words aren’t enough. They are loosely linked to this stories, but are just there to establish to Zipp and Misty are dating!

I think that should be everything! So let’s get right into it!

⚡️Foreword⚡️

How to Ask for Assistance

“MISTY! NOW!”

Sunny blasted an energy beam towards the core of the tree. The emerging Opaline cried out in pain as she was forced further back into the tree.

“YOU’LL FAIL, MISTY! YOU'VE NEVER DONE ANYTHING CORRECTLY IN YOUR LIFE!” Screeched the fire Alicorn.

Misty was frozen in fear. She had her spellbook floating in front of her, open at the correct page, but her eyes were focused squarely on Opaline Arcana.

Misty had been on edge ever since the ex deputy (and recently convicted war criminal) Sprout had burst into the brighthouse to warn the guardians of harmony that Opaline had started to emerge from the harmony tree in the Maretime bay town centre.

Sunny had immediately leapt up into action, Zipp was frantically grabbing her equipment, Izzy had loaded her moped with various home made bombs made from macaroni, Pipp had sent out an alert for everypony to evacuate, and Hitch had summoned the help of his animal critter friends. Sunny was hurriedly explaining to everypony that since all of the harmony trees were linked, Opaline must have found a way to emerge out of any of them.

Misty had been quietly watching all of her friends move around frantically as a churning bowl of anxiety had started spilling around in her stomach. When she had finally rebelled against Opaline, she thought it would finally be over, meaning she could just heal and move on, happily shutting out all the pain she had caused. But just like that, her own guardian had been thrown back into her life.

As everypony rushed out the door, Sunny had turned round to Misty and hurriedly said “Bring your element and your spellbook! We might need to use that sealing spell you were telling me about!”

Misty had spluttered a response to her, but she had already passed. She almost shut down there, but the feeling of a wing covering her back pulled her back.

“You got this, Misty.” Zipp had said reassuringly, giving her a kiss on the cheek. Misty had smiled at her, and nodded. “I… I got this!”

As they arrived, the form of Opaline had started to come out of the tree. It looked as if there was some sort of portal in the trunk of the tree and the more Opaline passed through, the more corporeal she became. As she emerged, strange batlike rock creatures flew out of the tree and started to cause general confusion and disarray.

With the area evacuated, the guardians started doing their thing. Zipp was flashing around, dispatching the creatures as quickly as she could. Izzy was doing the same with a mix of unicorn levitation and her homemade glitterbombs, which were surprisingly effective. Hitch was using a mix of his earth pony plant magic with his animal critter friends to help. Pipp was… filming everything (‘for documentation and research!’). All of the distraction work left Sunny and Misty. Being the one with the most raw power, Sunny was sending blast after blast at the emerging Alicorn. It seemed, however, that it wasn’t working as intended as for every blast backwards, Opaline seemed to get faster.

The fire alicorn’s plantlike gaze was set firmly on Misty.

“I don’t care WHAT you think you can do! You can’t do ANYTHING!”

And that’s how we got where we are now, with Misty frozen in place.

“MISTY! WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR!”Cried out Sunny desperately as she blasted one continuous beam.

Misty panicked. She looked in the spellbook, the words starting to get all mixed and jumbled in her mind as she tried to read them out. Stuttering, she shut her eyes and screamed the words to the spell without any finesse or precision in her horn movements.

She didn’t cast the spell correctly.

An incredibly unstable lightning bolt shot out of her horn, blasting into the tree. There was a huge flash as the tree was almost immediately engulfed in flames. Smaller bolts started flying around everywhere, blasting both Zipp and Sunny out of the air. One final offshoot blasted away towards the Canterlogic factory, flying along the power cables and shot inside of the building. A few loud booms rang out from inside as various capacitors were overloaded, blowing out a bunch of the windows.

The blazing tree did have somewhat of the desired effect, however, as the screams of pain from Opaline echoing around the square made Misty open her eyes. She could see the form of Opaline shrink back into the tree. Despite being a fire Alicorn, it seemed a lot of her senses were tied to the tree.

As Opaline’s figure returned to its wooden prison, its eyes were glaring strictly at Misty.

“You always were a pathetic little pony.”

And with that, she was gone, the flames starting to surround the area that she had been.

Everypony seemed to be in a state of silent shock at what Misty had done. Sunny staggered to her hooves, looking up in horror at the harmony tree. Her gaze slowly shifted to a quivering Misty, who looked back at her with an equal amount of horror.

“Well… that’s ONE way to close a portal.” Said Izzy, trying to hone in on the bright side as she slowly watched the tree burn.

Misty was frozen once more, feeling the walls in her mind start to suppress her vision. She clutched her chest with her hoof as she started to hyperventilate. She staggered a little, her eyes eventually landing onto a certain white pegasus.Zipp was laying on the floor, wings splayed out, unmoving. Along her left side on the section that her wing usually covered, a huge scorch mark had been created by the impact.

“Z-Zipp!” She cried out, and ran over to the Pegasus, gently shaking her. She was definitely breathing, at least, but it was getting more and more laboured by the moment.

“Nono… nononono… no…” she whispered, doing her best to try and wake her. “P-Please be ok…”

“We need to get her to the hospital.” Said Sunny as she quickly limped forward, with Pipp rushing over too. She had been hit by a blast too, as shown by her slightly singed mane, but it would seem that her Alicorn abilities had lessened the impact.

“Zipp!!! Don’t you DARE die on me!” Growled Pipp in desperation. “I FORBID IT!”

“I can fix it! T-There’s a spell!” She said, summoning the spell book to her and started to flick through it. She was breathing so quickly that she dropped it on the floor. Sunny placed a hoof on her shoulder. Misty didn’t like how much it was shaking.

“Misty.”

Misty looked around at her.

Sunny gently shook her head.

“Sunny! I-I can do it!” She whimpered. Sunny hesitated, but it was an incredibly stressed out Pipp that dealt the final blow.

“I think you’ve done enough.” She growled, shooting a withering glare at Misty.

Misty felt the comment skewer her right through the heart. Her eyes darted to Sunny for help. Sunny seemed too shocked by what Pipp had said to formulate a response, just looking between the pair of them. Izzy had let out a big gasp, and Hitch hissed nervously, although his attention was still mainly on the still burning tree.

Misty stumbled back, feeling the element of harmony around her neck heat up a little as she started to feel all the emotions being directed towards her.

Fear.

Anger.

Disappointment.

She could feel herself start to shake.

Sunny put herself in the way between Misty and the pegasus sisters. Her eyes were fixed on Misty’s element.

“Head back to the brighthouse, Misty. We’ve got it from here.” She said with a supportive smile, but Misty could tell that she was trying to de-escalate the situation.

Misty nodded quickly. She glanced at Pipp. She still looked furious. She felt her element heat up…

Fury.

Misty turned tail and bolted, running as fast as her legs could carry her.

For as long as she could remember, under the covers was Misty’s safe space. Somewhere she could hide from Opaline as she planned for ways to please her. This was where she was now. She was snuggled deep in the vast ocean of bedsheets as she gently sobbed into her little homemade unicorn plush. Today had been quite possibly the worst day of her life. Not only had she burnt down the harmony tree, blown up canterlogic and disappointed all her friends, her incompetence had sent her girlfriend to the hospital.

Spiralling hard, she did her best to ignore the hoof steps coming up the stairs. But as she heard somepony call her name, she realised she couldn’t really just ignore it.

She poked her head out from under the covers to see Pipp and Sunny sitting at the end of her bed, inside the curtain barrier that surrounded it. Pipp looked very guilty and Sunny looked kind of angry. Misty flinched a little at seeing Pipp, and felt her bottom lip wobble.

“Pipp wanted to say something.” Said Sunny, glancing over at Pipp. Pipp looked down, guiltily.

“I’m… sorry. I didn’t mean to snap at you.” She said quietly. “I was just worried about my sister. I know she means as much to you as she does to me, and you were probably feeling the same.”

Misty didn’t have her element around her neck, so she relied on herself to know that the apology was genuine.

“Is… I-is Zipp okay?” Misty asked quietly. Both Sunny and Pipp smiled.

“She’s going to be fine, yes.” Reassured Sunny. “She’s going to have a scar, but she will be back to full flight capacity in a week or so. She’s on her way back with Hitch now.”

Misty felt tears start to bubble, but she kept it in.

“Th… Thank you for… apologising, Pipp.” Misty managed to get out. She meant it, genuinely, but those words were going to be stinging in the back of her mind for a while.

Pipp gave a little smile, then backed out of the curtained area. Sunny stayed, smile dropping as she moved closer and gave Misty a tight hug.

“Are you… mad at me?” Asked Misty nervously.

“Of course not, Misty. This wasn’t your fault.”

“It was, though. I panicked and messed up the spell. Now the harmony tree is gone.” Misty mumbled into her mane as she returned the hug.

Sunny sighed, and took a moment to reply. This didn’t make Misty feel any better.

“It was Opaline that made you feel that way, though. You did your best to try and seal her away. You didn’t quite do it this time… but at least she won’t be able to return for a while.”

“If that was my best, I’d hate to see my worst…” She whimpered.

Sunny was silent for a little longer. Misty could sense she was trying to think of a way to resolve this without admitting that Misty had done badly.

“What I think you need…” she said eventually, pulling away from the hug “Is a mentor.”

Huh?

Misty looked confused.

“W-What do you mean? You mean like… O-Opaline?”

Sunny shook her head.

“She wasn’t a mentor. She was an abuser.” Sunny reaffirmed. “All she did was teach you bad things. She never offer any support, and her actions caused you more trauma than I can even bare to think about.” she said, her voice wobbling a little bit as she wrapped a hoof around Misty’s shoulder. Misty was quiet.

“She’s why you froze, Misty. It wasn’t you. This is why I think a mentor would be perfect for you. You’re one of the most incredible ponies I've ever met… we just need to make sure that you know that too.”

Misty smiled a little and nodded slowly. She didn’t really believe Sunny. She didn’t have much to give apart from a passing understanding of how to use a spellbook that quite literally fell out of the sky for her… but she did like the idea of having a teacher to help with her self confidence. “Uhm… that would be nice… I’d be happy for you to be my mentor, Sunny” she said, feeling hope start to form inside her.

Sunny smiled back, but shook her head.

“Not me. We’ll always be here to support you, obviously, but we need a real expert when it comes to helping you with this.”

“B-But… why…”

“We can’t really help with this kind of magic. Sure, we’ve all given you a hoof from time to time… but none of us really know how any of that spell stuff works. We need somepony who really understands it. And I just know that if you got proper teaching, you’d be the most formidable force in all of Equestria!” She said supportively.

Misty, as was quite common, was completely dumbfounded. “But… nopony else knows magic like this… not anypony alive, anyway…” she froze. “Y-You d-don’t want me to bring back somepony from the dead, r-right!?”

Sunny laughed, shaking her head. “Don’t be silly, Misty! I was thinking of somepony else…” she said, with a slowly growing smile, looking over at Misty’s spellbook. Misty was clueless.

“… that’s a book, not a horse.” She said slowly.

“Yes… but don’t you have your special pen pal?”

“OH!”

Misty’s ears shot up, and she looked super flustered.

“UHM! I think she’d probably be busy! She’s so busy all the time aha uhm… I don’t think she’d want to help me!” She said nervously.

“From what you’ve told me, it seems her life is pretty stable right now. Plus, you’ve got your special bond with your element!” Said Sunny. “Never be afraid to ask for help! If there's one lesson I can impart on you, it’s that!”

Misty let out a little sigh, looking at the book.

“… I think she is on her summer break or something… s-so I guess I could find out if she’s free…” she mumbled, gently hovering the book over to her. She flipped to the last page. The back of the book was a blank page. However, if she wrote anything on the blank page, the exact same words would appear in another book in a different world.

Misty grabbed her glittery pen, the nib hovering over the paper as her ears flattened.

“… what if I just disappoint her? Like I disappointed all of you?” She asked quietly.

“Then she wouldn't be worth having as a mentor.” Sunny reassured. “Because I could never be disappointed in you.“

Misty smiled, leaning into her for a few moments, Sunny wrapping her hoof around her.

Misty took a deep breath, and started writing…

‘Dear Sunset Shimmer…’

“Nervous?”

Zipp had walked with Misty up to the hill that overlooked Maretime bay. Misty had figured it would be the perfect place to introduce the unicorn properly to their world.

Sunset had been surprisingly enthusiastic to help, offering to travel across the same day. Misty had asked that she was given a couple of days to prepare herself.

Despite her mental preparations… she was still terrified.

“You have no idea…” Misty muttered in response, glancing over at Zipp. It had been a couple of days since the whole ‘zapping her girlfriend out of the sky’ incident and Zipp still sported a large bandage that had been carefully wrapped around her side.

“I’m…” she was about to apologise again, but Zipp placed a hoof on her lips, a furious blush appearing on Misty’s cheeks.

“Hey. What did we say about apologising for things you’ve already said sorry for?” She reminded her.

Misty nodded. “Sorry…” she said, covering her mouth as she realised what she’d just said.

“MISTY!” Laughed Zipp, and gave her peck on the cheek. “What are we going to do with you?“

Misty laughed along too, giving her a quick nuzzle before forcing a determined smile onto her face.

“I got this!“ she said.

“You got this!” Confirmed Zipp, who sat down a little bit away from her to watch the magic happen. Literally.

Misty wrote a quick message in her spellbook.

‘Ok! Casting the spell now!’ She scribbled, and quickly flipped to the correct page.

Her horn started to glow as she drew out a door shape in the air with a gold outline, and stood back. She placed her element around her neck and placed a hoof on her heart. A power circle appeared around her, and she started to gently float.

“I may seem a little quiet… but my strength is quite real”

She pushed her hoof forward, directing the energy towards the door. A beam of prismatic energy flew out and towards the door. Her cutie mark sparkled too, glittery energy supplementing the beam as an actual glowing door started to form.

“When my element comes to life…” she said, and gulped. Here we go…

“My heart helps me feel!”

With one last swelling of energy, the door was fully formed! Misty dropped onto the floor, panting a little, but her ears perked up as she saw the door swing open.

Zipp let out a cheer. “Way to go, girl!”

Moving through the door was a yellow, red and orange unicorn with two large satchels on her sides. She was wearing a leather jacket as well as an excited (yet nervous) smile on her face. Around her neck hung her matching element.

Zipp’s jaw dropped. She was so pretty!!!!

“Hey there, Morning Mist!” Sunset Shimmer said happily, extending a hoof out to shake. Misty took it one further and gave her a tight hug. Sunset laughed, hugging back. “Good to see you too!”

Zipp smiled as she approached the pair. “Damn, Misty was not lying when she said you had style.”

Misty unhugged and turned around. She pointed to Zipp.

“Sunset! This is Zipp! She’s my… uhhhmmm…” she said, blushing a little as she glanced at Zipp, who rolled her eyes affectionately. “Yes, Misty, you can say it…” Sunset raised an eyebrow.

“She’s my girlfriend.” Misty said, awkwardly smiling. Zipp stuck her tongue out.

“Ah! Yes! Zipp, was it!” Said Sunset, extending her hoof to her. Zipp happily shook it. “Great to meet you! I’ve heard you’re the best flyer in this Equestria!”

“Oh? Really? Who told you that?” She replied, feeling an embarrassed blush cross her face. Misty giggled.

Sunset laughed too, before setting down her satchels. She started rummaging around inside one of them.

“Okay! So… my… friend,” she said, purring a weird cadence on the word friend (which led Misty and Zipp to raise an eyebrow at each other), “helped me plan a lesson guide for us! Now, uhm…” she said, rubbing the back of her neck awkwardly. “I can’t pretend that I’ve ever really taught anybody before, but I am going to do my best!”

Misty looked confused. “What do you mean… anybody?”

Sunset tilted her head, before realising. “OH! Sorry, everypony! Heh, old habits… anyway… Aha!”

“Wait, we’re starting now?”

“Yeah! Why not!”

She pulled out a notebook that had a purple star shape on the front, and opened it up at the first page.

“Is that… Twilight Sparkle’s cutie mark?” Asked Zipp with curiosity.

Zipp didn’t pick up on it, but when Twilight’s name was mentioned, Misty felt a strange fuzz at the back of her mind. It wasn’t like the normal one that she felt when she got little glimpses of ponies' emotions. This was stronger. It felt like it had been festering for a while, and whilst they both wore their elements, their powers seemed to be somewhat intertwined. For the first time, Misty felt a full sentence form in her mind in Sunset’s voice.

‘Why did you have to ask that.’

Misty was completely taken aback. She had never had anything like this happen before… Luckily for her, Sunset had already started replying to Zipp.

“Hmm? Oh, yeah! Yeah, I know the version of her from the world I hang out in! Very smart. Anyway…” she said, quickly shifting the subject. Misty tilted her head. She was hiding something. Zipp wanted to learn more about Twilight Sparkle, but Sunset had already started talking again.

“It says here…” Sunset said, studying the page in front of her. “The first step in mentorship is finding out what your student is capable of. Ah! Easy!” She said, and shut the book. She cleared her throat, ready to start teaching.

“Okay! Lesson one, let’s go! Misty, I’d like you to punch me!”

…

“W-WHAT!?”

Author's Note

,,,,,y es i am aware this is the second new story i've posted in 24 hours KSJABDJASD

I am back on a writing kick again :) Both will be updated semi regularly, probably on alternating weeks!

Intertwined Reflections is on a bit of a hiatus, but is going to still be slowly worked on! The next chapter of that one is already 60% complete!

Anyway, now for this story...

I LOVE MISTY! I've always loved how similar Misty is to Sunset Shimmer, especially with her empathy powers, so I thought it would be a natural fit to have them work together! Misty needs help with her confidence? Who better to get the punk princess herself!

I will probably redo the cover art, this story has been sitting in drafts for about a month and I want to try it again now that i've improved a bunch ^^

Anyway! Let me know what you thought! Leave a comment! I looove to read them <3

Zoey out!

How to Cast with Confidence

Part 1: How to cast with confidence

💥Part 1: How to cast with confidence💥

“P-Punch you?“ stuttered Misty. She hadn’t been expecting the lessons to start so soon and especially hadn’t been expecting them to start like this

“Yeah! Go on!” Said Sunset, stretching a little and getting into an active stance. “I want to see what we’re working with!”

Misty quibbled a bit, and glanced back to Zipp who had a curious expression on her face.

“Have you ever punched anypony before?” Asked Zipp.

“N-No!” Replied Misty.

“Well, you know what they say! First time for everything!” Zipp said. “Go get her, girl!”

“Uhm… A-Are you going to punch me back?” she asked nervously to Sunset, who was a taller and much stronger looking pony.

“No. I promise you, I am not going to attack back” She said, smiling. Misty trusted her.

“Okay… here goes…” Misty said. She had to psyche herself up a bit, but with a big cheer from Zipp, she ran forward with her eyes closed.

“HHYAH!” She said, flailing her hooves around wildly at Sunset.

Sunset simply jumped out the way, Misty falling to the ground in a small pile.

“Come on! You can do better than that!” Said Sunset, smiling as she flicked her mane.

Misty turned around, a determined expression forming on her face. Keeping her eyes open this time, she waited until the last moment to throw out a hoof. Once again, Sunset simply jumped backwards, causing Misty to stumble once more. Letting out a grunt of frustration, Misty glared at her.

“How am I meant to punch you if you keep on jumping out of the way?” she asked.

Sunset just grinned.

“... OH.”

Misty realised what the actual ‘test’ was.

Okay.

“No more messing around, Misty…” she grumbled to herself. Her eyes narrowed as sunset stood there, ready for Misty’s next attempt.

Misty ran forward towards her, but at the last moment, hopped to the left and threw another punch! Sunset narrowly dodged out of the way, but it was a lot closer!

“Better! Come on! I know you can do it!” She said supportively. “You’ll need to use your head!”

“I AM using my head!” She said, thinking hard. Sunset was paying real close attention to her, and would likely be able to read any of her movements. So she’d have to try to distract her!

“… WOAH IS THAT A DRAGON?” She said, pointing up into the sky. Sunset turned around to look. As she did, Misty ran up to punch, but Sunset rolled out of the way just as she approached, laughing.

“UUGGGH!!!” Misty groaned in frustration. “If I had known that this would be difficult then I wouldn’t have suggested it!”

“Hey Mists!” Zipp called out to her. Misty looked around.

“You’ve got a horn! Use it!”

Misty blinked.

Use your head.

Oh… OH!

She looked back to Sunset who was grinning. “We’re here to learn magic, aren’t we?”

“Right!” She said, and activated her horn…

And then just sort of…

Stood there.

Sunset raised an eyebrow.

…

Misty didn’t do anything.

“Are you… going to do something?” Asked Sunset. Misty whimpered. “I’m… not really that good at it without my book…” she said. She cast the one spell she had managed to master; the spell that made her book float over to her.

“Oh.”

Sunset tilted her head, glancing over at the book.

“The book is just instructions, right?” She asked.

“Y-Yeah. All the magic is in me already! I think…”

“Awesome! So we don’t need it then!” She said, and grabbed the book with her own magic. “Zipp! Catch!” She said, Frizzbeeing it over to Zipp. Zipp caught it in her mouth.

“Sunset…” Misty was about to complain, but Sunset interrupted.

“Misty! Remember, this is all about you getting better, right?” she said. “And the only way to get better is to figure out where you need to improve!”

Misty’s ears flattened and her eyes narrowed. What spells COULD she do without the book?

There was basic levitation, of course, but she doubted that she’d be able to lift somepony like Sunset without resistance. She could remember the teleportation spell but had little practice with it. She didn’t want to end up halfway across Equestria and need to be rescued again like last time. She could sort of remember the spell that turned her friends into Seaponies, but not only would that not be useful right now, she didn’t have any of the correct components.

And then of course, there was…

Misty’s eyes brightened.

That spell!

“O-Okay… I’m ready…” she said, a new found determination in her voice.

“What have you got planned?” Asked Sunset, who got back into position.

“Can’t say! That’d ruin the surprise, wouldn’t it!” She said, and without warning leapt at her!

Sunset wasn’t expecting the sudden movement but was still able to dodge out of the way.

Misty didn’t let up. She kept on running at her, swinging her hoof. Sunset didn’t have much trouble hopping out of the way of the swings. Misty was getting exhausted, and after a good minute of constant running, she stopped, panting. Sunset was painting a little too.

“Come on, Misty! You’re getting closer!” She said, and then raised an eyebrow when she saw the exhausted misty’s horn glow. She readied herself… What was she going to do? A laser beam? Teleport behind her? Animate a tree?

She didn’t expect to feel the heavy impact on the back of her head.

She let out a cry of pain and looked around to see what had just hit her. Zipp sat a little bit away with a small smirk on her face as Sunset looked at… the spellbook?

OH.

Sunset looked around just in time to see Misty appear RIGHT in her face, and punching her right on the snout! Knocked off balance, Sunset fell onto her rear, hoof on nose. That hurt WAY more than she thought Misty was capable of.

“HA! YES! I DID IT! HAAAA! WOOOO!” She said, Twirling around in a circle as she celebrated. Zipp gave a cheer of support. After a few moments, Misty slowed down and looked sheepishly at Sunset, who had a smile on her face.

“S-Sorry! Are you ok? I didn’t mean to hurt you that much! And I know we said I shouldn’t use the spellbook but I technically didn’t USE the spellbook! I just used the book part! Which wasn’t very honest of me, i’m really sorry but-”

She was interrupted by the sudden hoof on her shoulder, which made her immediately sit down.

“You did it!” Sunset said excitedly. “You managed to work out a way to hit me! That’s amazing! Well done!” She said, smiling wide. Zipp was behind her, smiling too. Misty’s cheeks flushed with pride as she shyly shuffled her hoof on the floor.

Through the contact and with them both having their elements, she could hear Sunset’s mind crystal clear.

“She’s going to be so fucking powerful.”

She shuffled away nervously with a little smile.

“Thank you…” she said, getting to her hooves. “Uhm… what’s the plan now?” She asked. Sunset paused. She didn’t seem to know. “Uhhhhh…” she whipped out her lesson plan and scanned through it. She smiled a tiny bit.

“It just says ‘Get some rest, Sunsun.” Heh…”

Misty tilted her head slightly, as she felt the emotion emanating from Sunset.

Longing.

“I guess now we should show you the brighthouse then!” Piped up Zipp. Sunset looked up and quickly nodded, putting away the lesson plan. “Sounds good! I’d love to meet all of your friends! Especially Sunny. I feel like we have a lot to talk about.”

“Well then! Follow me!” Said Zipp, who started to trot off back towards the brighthouse . Misty nodded slowly, but her view was fixed on Sunset. When Zipp was a little bit away, Misty said quietly to Sunset: “are… you ok?”

“Hmm? Yeah, why do you ask?” Said Sunset, who had just taken off her element and placed it into one of her many bags. Misty frowned; it was going to be harder to read her now.

“Well… it’s just that… you seemed a bit…” she said, slowing down as she realised she didn’t even know what she was trying to ask.

“A bit what?“ she said, raising an eyebrow.

“Sad?” Misty said, tilting her head. Sunset let out a little sigh.

“I guess I am, a bit. Back home is a little complicated right now, but none of that matters! This week is about YOU! Not me, remember! Now, you two go on ahead a little, I’ll catch up! Just got to work out where I put all of my presents…” she said, smiling.

Misty nodded quickly with a smile, but concern filled her face as she walked away. Sunset did seem keen to come here…

“All good?” Asked Zipp, head tilting as Misty approached.

“Think so! She’s a bit distracted by… something. And I can’t read her too well when she doesn’t have her element on… but! I’m sure if it was important she’d tell us!”

“True.” Said Zipp, nodding, glancing back at her. A little smile crossed her face as she leant in close to Misty.

“Can we please talk about how pretty she is!?” She said in an excited whisper. Misty nodded, a similar smile spreading onto her lips.

“I know, right!? She’s so cool!? Why can’t I be that cool!?” She responded in a similar tone.

“Come on, Mists! Less of that!” Said Zipp, giving her a nudge. “You are cool! You just punched a Unicorn from an alternate universe!”

Misty smiled a little, but didn’t really believe it.

“MISTY! Z-ZIPP!”

Both Mares heads turned to see Hitch Trailblaze, sheriff extraordinaire, running towards them. “ARE YOU OK? SPROUT TOLD ME SOME SORT OF FIRE DEMON WAS ATTACKING!”

“Oh. You mean Sunset?” Asked Zipp, raising an eyebrow and motioning at the rapidly approaching bacon horse.

“She’s my friend! And my new teacher! Did Sunny not tell you?” Asked Misty. Zipp now looked incredibly confused as Sunset reached the trio.

“Uhhhhh…” said Hitch, who was now staring at Sunset Shimmer with confused awe.

“Heya sheriff. You that cop Misty’s told me about?” Sunset asked nonchalantly.

“U-Uhh… yes! I'm the sheriff of this town.” He said, regaining composure.

“Huh.” Said Sunset shortly. “Is there no royal guard?”

“Well, we don’t really have royalty here.” He said awkwardly. “Sooo… not much use for a royal guard… unless you head to Zephyr heights. They’ve got a queen, and you just so happen to be in the presence of one of their princesses!”

Zipp groaned a little.

“Oh.” Said Sunset, before her eyes suddenly widened. “OH! YOU’RE A PRINCESS!?”

Zipp looked confused. “Yeah… did… Misty never say?” She asked, looking over at Misty who shivered as she found all eyes were now firmly placed on her.

“U-Uhm! No, not really, because, I know that you don’t really, like being seen as a princess…” she said nervously. “So I didn’t say anything.”

Zipp’s smile grew. Sunset just looked between them in impressed confusion. Hitch just blinked.

“How in Equestria did you manage to bag a princess?” Said Sunset in a light tone.

“Well… she asked me, actually…” she replied with a little laugh. Sunset jaw dropped. “Girl? You never told me you got propositioned by ROYALTY?”

“It’s really not that big of a deal…” said Zipp, rubbing the back of her mane with a hoof.

“I don’t really see her as Royalty. I just see her as Zipp!”

Hitch went to contribute but the last statement was so cute that he gave up and just smiled.

“Heh…” Sunset laughed a little. “Come on, then, lovebirds!! To the… SHIT one moment I forgot a bag. she said, and hurriedly rushed back. The trio watched her go.

When she was out of earshot, Hitch turned to the other two.

“How is she so pretty?” he said in disbelief.

“I KNOW!” the Mares said in unison.

“So this is where all of the magic here comes from?” Asked Sunset, head tilted as she looked up at the translucent and prismatic beam shooting up into the sky.

“Yep! As far as we can tell, anyway.” Said Zipp. “There’s a set of crystals up there that our world's Twilight infused all the magic of earth ponies, pegasi and unicorns into it. If it’s moved, magic ceases to function here. So, you know. Don’t do that.”

Sunset looked impressed. “That Twilight sure is a wonder, isn’t she? And she sealed it away to stop the fire Alicorn from taking it?”

“Yep…” said Misty quietly.

“Which you did! Sorta- well, at least she won’t be back for a while. And once I'm done with you, you’ll be able to flatten her in moments. That’s all that matters, right?”

“Right…” said Misty, sounding more unsure than ever. She moved forward and opened the door.

As the three walked in, Sunset suddenly found an Izzy standing directly in front of her.

“ARE YOU SUNSET SHIMMER.” She asked, eyes huge and dazzling.

“Uhh… yeah?” She said.

“YAAAAAY!!!!!!”

Izzy immediately wrapped her legs around her in a tight hug, tail wagging like an excited puppy. “THIS MIGHT BE THE BEST DAY EVER! ANOTHER UNICORN BEST FRIEND TO KEEP!”

Sunset laughed at this, returning the hug a little awkwardly. “Is she always like this?” She asked.

“Oh, you have no idea.” Said Zipp, smirking as she walked past the unicorns. Misty and Hitch followed her in.

Eventually Izzy detached herself from the hug, and practically dragged Sunset over to a huge display of friendship bracelets she had made.

“Pick one pick one pick one!” She said excitedly, practically bouncing up and down on the spot.

“Haha, uh, is it ok if I do it a little later-“ Sunset started but was interrupted as Izzy was suddenly giving her a death glare.

“Pick one.”

“Okay! Okay, I will!“ she said, rolling her eyes a little. She scanned them over for a few moments, and eventually picked one that had a blue and purple theme, mixed with some sparkles. “This one reminds me of you, so I’ll take it!” She said, putting it on her front hoof. Misty looked with wide eyes. It was super similar to hers.

We’re matching!??

“And now, a LIVE EXCLUSIVE, pipsqueaks…”

A voice was reverberating round the main room of the brighthouse. Zipp groaned and placed a hoof on her muzzle in exasperation. Misty just let out a little giggle.

“...coming LIVE from the crystal brighthouse! We have a unicorn from…. wwwwait for it…. ANOTHER DIMENSION!”

Sunset looked up to see the pink pegasi suddenly leap off the balcony above them and swoop down. Pipp landed a few feet in front of Sunset, turning the camera round to show them both.

“This extra dimensional traveller is here to help train our very own ✨Misty Brightdawn✨on how to better do magic! So we don’t have another little…” she paused a little, her face dropping momentarily. “Accident.” Her expression lifted again as she shuffled closer to Sunset.

“So! Sunset Shimininer!” she started gleefully.

“It’s Shimmer.” she said quickly, tilting her head as she looked into the front facing camera of Pipp’s phone. “I didn’t even realise you had phones here… how are you holding that?”

Pipp opened her mouth happily to answer but paused as she actually considered the question.
“How AM I holding this-” she said slowly… “Ah well! Probably nothing to worry about!”

“So! As I was Saaaying…. How are you finding your time so far in Maretime bay?” she asked, tilting the camera towards Sunset.

Misty noticed Sunset’s cheeks flushing a little as the orange unicorn was suddenly thrown into the spotlight.

“T-Three thousand viewers!?” she said nervously.

“Yeppp!” Pipp confirmed gleefully. “And all of them are waiting for an annsswerrrr~”

“U-Uhhhhh…” she said, stalling awkwardly for a moment. “It’s good! Haven’t been able to see much of it yet, aha… I d-did get punched on arrival though! That was awesome!”

“You what? By who!?” Pipp said, camera tilting back to her slightly as she turned her head to look at Sunset.

Sunset went to answer but she stopped as Misty shook her head rapidly, waving her hooves. Misty did NOT want the whole of Equestria thinking that she punched anypony she didn’t know. She was already worried that she was an eco terrorist after she burnt down the harmony tree.

“M…….. doesn’t matter! Just a misunderstanding! It’s a lovely place!” Sunset said quickly. There was an awkward silence in the room for a few moments, before Pipp laughed loudly.

“AHHAAAHAHAH! Comedy must be different from other dimensions. ANWAY! Send your questions in the comments on the community tab! We will have a PROPER Q+A with her tomorrow! That's it for now, Pipsqueaks!” she said, and ended the livestream.

Shaking her head, she strutted up to Sunset.

“We have GOT to work on your online presence, girl! Don’t worry, we’ll get you all set up on clip trot tomorrow morning! We have a LOT of work to do to build your platform!”

“Clip Trot?” Was all Sunset managed to say as Pipp fluttered away up into the bedroom area, muttering about all the brand deals she’d be able to secure now that a pony from another dimension was living in their house.
Sunset let out an exhale of relief. “I don’t think I’m quite ready for social media here juuust yet.” she said with a smile.

“M-Me neither…” said Misty, approaching her again. She glanced around. “Does anypony know where Sunny is?”

“I think she’s still down at the bay” said Hitch, who was now tending to one of his animal buddies who had a sore wing. “I think there was a bit of a lunch rush at her smoothie stand.”

“Smoothie stand? The only Alicorn left in Equestria and she’s running a smoothie stand?” Sunset asked with some confusion.

As Izzy started excitedly telling Sunset about all of Sunny’s various smoothie types, Misty’s ears flattened as she started to worry. Sunset was asking so many questions… she had done a terrible job at explaining this dimension, hadn’t she! She was the worse at th-

Her R.A.S (random anxiety spiral) was quickly halted by the feeling of Zipp’s muzzle rubbing against hers. Misty could already feel her pulse slow as she returned the action. Zipp had gotten quite good at recognising the signs that Misty was slipping a little, and was always quick to show support.

“I’ll have to try some!” Sunset said after Izzy had meticulously explained every single flavour combination, and her gaze turned to Misty. “I’m… kinda tired now from travelling. Would you be able to show me where I’ll be staying?”

Misty looked blankly for a few moments before realising she was being spoken too. “OH! Uhm, yeah! S-Sure, It's… U-Uhm…” she stood up, shaking her head to clear it. “Follow me! It's in… the basement. S-Sorry its the only room that we’ve got free-”

“Don’t worry at all” she said, and followed her.. “Wouldn’t be the first time I've slept somewhere that wasn’t ideal.

Zipp gave Misty a little nudge as the two unicorns headed down into the basement.

As they left, Izzy shuffled over to hitch.

“Did Misty mention to you how hot Sunset was going to be-”

Hitch wasn’t expecting that, and spat out the glass of water that he was drinking.

Misty showed Sunset down to her room. Izzy had donated her old bed from bridlewood for the room (which they had transported in the flying motorhome that they of course had) but apart from that it was pretty bare. The old storage crates still remained. Misty hoped she wouldn’t mind.

“Not bad! I’ve slept in way worse rooms than this!” she said, throwing all her bags onto the floor with a heave. She took off her jacket, did a big catlike stretch, and lay down on the bed.

Misty hovered awkwardly for a few moments as Sunset settled down.

“So….” said Misty, shuffling further in and sitting by the bed. Sunset patted the bed. Misty nodded with an embarrassed smile and hopped up next to her. “What do you think of my friends?”

“Oh! They’re great!” she said, smiling wide. “Izzy reminds me of one of my friends from home! Only less…” she needed to take a moment to think. “... Less chaotic.”

“Than Izzy?”

“Oh, you have no idea… Hitch seems cool! Was a little worried when I saw that he was a cop, but he seems to care about his animals more than himself. Pipp is… Pipp will take some getting used to, but I can see why she’s so popular!” she said, looking up at the ceiling as she spoke. The pair could hear the usual noise of Pipp writing a new pop song in the rooms above them.

“And uhm… what do you think of… Zipp.” Misty asked anxiously.

Sunset let out a little sigh, and grinned at Misty.

“You are one lucky pony, Misty.’”

Misty felt an excitement build up inside of her as she wiggled a little bit where she lay. Sunset liked her girlfriend! This was the best news ever!

“Now… Is it ok if I'm just on my own for a bit?” Asked Sunset. “It’s been a long day is all, and I need a nap. After I've planned your lesson tomorrow, of course!”

Misty nodded but before she got off the bed she hugged Sunset. Tight.

“H-Hey! What's this for?” she asked.

“For being here… For agreeing to come. You’re going to make everything so much better.”

Sunset took a moment to reply. “I… Don’t think I will. It's you who’ll be getting better, right?”

“I… guess.” said Misty slowly.

“Besides! I really owe you one. I…” she stopped talking altogether.

Despite not having her element on, Misty could still sense the familiar feeling of sadness inside of Sunset.

“I think you know how bad It was for me when we first met.” She mumbled.

Misty shivered. When they had first come across each other about a year ago, Sunset was right on the verge of wiping her own memory so she didn’t have to feel the guilt of what she had done on her gambit to steal Twilight’s crown.

“You saved me then, Misty.” she said, voice wobbling a tiny bit. “This is the least I can do. I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else at all right now.”

And there it was again.

Misty was getting the fuzzy emotion of unspecified loss emanating from Sunset Shimmer.

This was becoming too frequent to be random. Misty was stunlocked in her own mind. Why would Sunset want to keep something from her?

“You know…” she said, tilting her head a little. “You’re the only person OR Pony that I haven’t been able to read.”

Misty tilted her head, distracted from her previous train of though. “Read?”

“Yeah. It’s a lot more vibrant when I’ve got my element on, but I can generally get a feel for how somepony is feeling just by touching them. It's a near constant buzz when I’ve got the element on, and then if I touch them, I can hear their exact thoughts. It’s… bizarre to say the least.”

“Y-Yeah! I…I’ve started to experience things like that…” she said. “E-Especially when… uhm… I…” She mumbled, not wanting to relive the terrible experience of the battle against Opaline. “But…” her mind started putting things together. “You can’t… sense me?”

“Not at all.” she said, shrugging. “I guess since we kinda share the same power? I don’t know.”

Misty froze as she looked away from her.

She could hear what Sunset was thinking when she was wearing her element… and she could even feel the loss emanating from her now…

She knew she should just tell her. It would be the honest and easy thing to do!

…

But then she’d have to confront her about what was bothering her so much…

“That's weird…” is all she was able to say as she stood up. She turned around with a lil’ smile.

“Well! I’ll leave you now. J-Just head upstairs if you need anything!” Misty said. Sunset smiled and nodded.

“One more thing, Misty…” She said.

“Hmm?” Misty said, looking around.

“Prepare for the best week of your life!”

Author's Note

I wonder why Sunset seems so upset...

Leave comments down below! Tell me what you thought, I'd love to hear!

How to Fight with the Fear

Part 2: How to Fight with the Fear

Part 2

How to Fight with the Fear

“Misty! It’s ok! Misty!”

Misty’s eyes flew open, her breathing quick. She thrashed around a bit in the confused state between the dream realm and reality, only calmed down by feeling the hooves on her shoulders. Zipp was looking down at her, worry stricken across her face. Misty’s breathing slowed as she rolled up into a sitting position.

“Ugh…” she groaned. She had been having another nightmare. This time about Zipp… she didn’t even want to think about it.

“S-” she started but Zipp’s hoof had already shot to her muzzle. “Nononononono. You are not about to apologise for having a nightmare.” she said sternly, but with a smile on her mouth. Misty’s ears flattened, and she instead just rested her head against Zipp’s chest. Zipp placed a hoof around her and made a ‘shhhh’ noise. Misty felt herself calm right down. The contact started to let Misty inadvertently start to sense Zipp’s feelings… She would call them ‘affectionate concern.’ This made Misty shuffle uncomfortably. She did appreciate her developing abilities; nopony else native to this world could do what she could. But she did wish there was a way to turn it off every now and then.

“Remember… I’m here.” Said Zipp quietly. “And don’t forget! Today’s your first lesson…”

OH!

Misty had completely forgotten that somepony was here to help her!

A small smile crossed her lips as she moved away, glancing over at the spellbook on her dresser. “It… doesn’t quite seem real… I never thought I’d actually get to meet her again, and now here she is!”

“Goes to show how much everypony wants you to do well, Mists.” she said. Misty tilted her head.

“Zipp… you’re a good detective, right?” Misty asked.

“I’m not good. I’m great” Said Zipp with a grin.

“Well…” Misty said, looking at her. “Do you think that there's something… weird? About Sunset?”
“Well, she is a Unicorn from another dimension who lives in another OTHER dimension where she is some weird flesh creature. I’d class that as pretty strange.” Zipp pointed out.

“I know, but its not that. I…” she sighed. “You know my whole… emotion and memory stuff that i’ve started to develop?”

“Yeah…” said Zipp, tilting her head a bit.

“Well… I’ve gotten the feeling that there's a reason she was so keen to come here.”

“Uh, yeah? To see you?”

“N-No, I mean, yeah, she IS here for me but… I guess I mean more, a reason for why she was so keen to leave her home.” she said, pondering it a little. Zipp had a little think about it, reminded of their first meeting. “She DID seem a little off when talking about her friend that helped her make the lesson plan…”

Misty nodded. “I’m… not sure what to do. Do I ask her about it? She obviously doesn’t want to talk about it” said Misty.

Zipp considered it for a bit. “Hmm… Well… I think you should keep an eye on it, but not engage it directly.” she said finally. “Worst case scenario, she IS sad about something, and her time here will be a fun distraction, right?”

Misty nodded, smiling a little. She liked that plan. “Y-Yeah! I guess so… Thanks, Zipp.”

“No problem”, she replied, giving her a nuzzle. “I heard Izzy making pancakes, want me to bring you some up?”

“Oh! Yes please! That’d be great!” she said, smiling and nodding. Zipp gave her a small peck on the cheek and fluttered downstairs.

Misty laid back on the bed, smiling at the ceiling. She could hear voices from the roof. Her head tilted a little. Who was up there?

To say that Sunny was nervous was an understatement.

She had gotten back home late last night, and their guest was already fast asleep. This was a blessing and a curse. It was good as she didn’t have to do her formal introductions then and there, but bad because she had to wait all night dealing with the worry of what she was going to say.

She had tried to head into her room in the morning, but she was already gone. A pancake flipping Izzy had informed her that Sunset had headed up to the top of the brighthouse.

So there Sunny was, in the longest 5 seconds of her life, waiting for the elevator to reach its peak.

Once it eventually did, she crossed out of the prisbeam’s shine to see Sunset there, leaning over the balcony. She was wearing a leather jacket and her mane was gently moving in the wind. Sunny gulped a little.

She’s so pretty!?

Ok… you’re the leader… Go make a good first impression!

“H-HI! Sunset Shimmer, isn’t it?” she said, stumbling over the first hurdle a little. Sunset’s ear flicked as she turned around, her face forming into a smile.

“Thats me! Aaand you must be Sunny Starscout!” she said,moving her forelegs away from the balcony and extending a hoof. Sunny moved up, and shook it.

“Yep! Well, first off all, thanks so much for coming to help Misty!” she said sitting down next to her. Sunset sat down too and the pair looked over Maretime bay.

“Oh, I could never say no to helping out Misty. She’s one of the kindest ponies I’ve ever met! Plus, she’s adorable. I couldn’t exactly say no!” she said, grinning. Sunny laughed. “T-That’s true! What do you think of the town so far?”

“Heh… got asked the same thing yesterday on Pipp’s livestream.” Sunset replied, smirking a little as she looked back over the town below them. Sunny let out a little groan in embarrassment.

“I’m so sorry about that… she's chronically online.”

“No need to apologise! I actually think I’m going to ask her to help me with one of my lessons for Misty today.” she said, and got out her planning book. Sunny didn’t get a chance to see the symbol on the front.

“Where is it…” she said, flicking to the right page. Once she had found it, she showed it to Sunny. Sunny’s eyes widened a little.

“R-Really?” she asked, ears perking up as she read the contents of the page “Is that really a good idea?”

“I think it would do wonders for her confidence.” she said. “It helped me with mine, anyway.”

“I guess we’ll see!” she said. “I trust you to do well, though! You seem like you’re on top of this!”

Sunset laughed, shaking her head. “I’m only doing the things that helped me get better. Me and Misty… we’re pretty similar in a lot of ways. She reminds me of me right when I’d manage to come back from the darkness… Well, kind of. From what Misty has told me, she was only ever really doing the bad things because of Opaline. I did them by myself.” she said, smiling bitterly. “But! Like me, it seems she has a wondrous group of friends who helped pull her back, and she seems much happier for it!”

Sunny nodded along in agreement. “I’m so glad that we’ve been able to be there for Misty… she’s extraordinarily powerful in ways that I don’t think any of us really understand, not even her.” she said. Her ears flattened a little as her eyes darted over to the burned unity tree over in the town.

“The one thing she’s missing is magical guidance… which is where I come in! Don’t worry, Sunny. Once I’m done with her, she’ll be able to send Opaline back to the dark ages where she belongs!” she said happily.

Sunny could feel her anxiety start to flush out of her system. Knowing that there was at least one other not evil magic user in this world certainly did relieve a lot of the stress of Opaline still being out there.

The pair sat there for a few more moments, looking over the bay. Sunset looked over at her.

“... can I see them?”

“H-Huh!?” Sunny was confused.

“Your wings.”

“O-OH!” Sunny said, the momentary confusion cleared from her mind. She nodded, and activated her wings and horn! Sunset smiled wide as she saw them. “That’s awesome!” she said, standing up and circling Sunny, who blushed awkwardly. “I’ve never seen anything like THIS before! You must be one special-” she stopped suddenly. Sunny looked confused before realising that Sunset was looking at her bag.

“Is that…” Sunset said slowly. “Twilight Sparkle’s cutie mark?”

“OH! Uhm, yeah! It is!” she said with a nod. “I… used to be a huge Twilight Sparkle fan when I was a kid…” she said bashfully. “Same with the other elements of Harmony… I-I’ll show you my figurines later, aha!”

Sunset raised an eyebrow. “You have… figurines of them?”

“Yeah!”

“... so they…” she said, pausing for a moment. “Sorry. All of this dimension stuff is confusing, but from what I understand, this world is around a thousand years ahead of the one I’m from originally. So the myths and legends of the world before to you are just… the ponies I know.” she said slowly. Sunny tilted her head before realising what Sunset was realising, her face dropping a little.

“Wait… you know your worlds Twilight Sparkle?”

It was very subtle, but Sunny could have sworn she saw Sunset’s eye twitch.

“I know her, yes. She’s… the one who helped me with this, actually.” She said, pointing with a hoof to her lesson plan. “She’s… she’s something else.” she said, smiling softly. Sunny’s eyes widened.

Misty was getting real help from THE (well, A) Twilight Sparkle?!??

She tried her best to not have a nerdgasm.

“Was… Twilight Sparkle stil an Alicorn?” asked Sunset, interrupting Sunny’s freakout.
“Oh! Yes! We’ve actually spoken to her! Well, kind of. She left us a message! It plays if you touch the middle most gem of the unity crystals!” she said, pointing at the shining crystals that floated in the prisbeam. Sunset looked over at it, seemingly lost in thought.

“Is she still… alive here?” Sunset asked, still looking at the unity crystals.

Sunny sighed. “We don’t know. Zipp and I have been trying to investigate for a while, but we can’t find any trace of her. All we know is that at some point in the past, Opaline overpowered the Elements of Harmony and Twilight Sparkle had to seal away all the magic. What became of her after that… we aren’t sure.” she said, looking away sadly. Sunset was silent as she listened. Sunset could see a tear or two start to form in her eyes.

“S-Sorry! I didn’t mean to, I mean i was only… oh gosh-”

Sunny didn’t even register that she had just essentially told Sunset that all her friends in this timeline were either dead or missing.

“It’s fine! It’s… fine. Just a lot to take in.” she said, taking a deep breath. “But…it's also ok. All of my friends are alive and well. Just in another dimension.”

Sunny nodded, and let out a deep sigh. “Its… alot, you know. Everypony is depending on me… I’m the last Alicorn that we know of who isn’t evil… What if I mess up again?”

“Sunny… I know you can do it.” Sunset reassured. “Whatever troubles you face, no matter how great and catastrophic, your friends will pull through for you. You got this.” she said. Sunny managed to smile. “Plus, you’re about to have another magical superpower on your side! You got nothing to worry about, Princess!”

Oh goshhhhh. Sunny flushed with embarrassment.

“Oh, uhm… Don’t call me princess, please.” she requested bashfully. “I… don’t really feel comfortable being seen as better than everypony just because I’m an Alicorn.

“OH! Sorry! Force of habit… I’m used to calling Alicorns Princesses is all.” said sunset apologetically.

“It's ok! It’s not the first time I’ve been called princess by someone who knew Twilight.”

“Wait, really? Who else have you spoken to?”

“Oh! Did I not mention? Spike is still alive!”

Sunset blinked.

“You have got to be fucking kidding me.”

“Steadddyyyy…. Steaddyyyy…………”

Misty couldn’t remember the last time she had concentrated this hard. Her element glowing around her neck, her magical aura surrounded the large rock that Sunset was standing on. The rock in question was gently levitating in the air, spinning in a slow circle. Sweat was falling down her forehead as she kept on spinning it, the effort she was exuding being enormous.

“Almost there!” said Sunset encouragingly.

“Can’t…” Misty said, voice trembling, shutting her eyes. The rock started to wobble in the air uncertainly.

“Remember! Centre your magic!” said Sunset quickly, bracing herself for a sudden fall.

Mist took a deep breath. Centre yourself… centre yourself…

She could feel the magic inside of her calming, as she focused her body to her core. The pain in her head somewhat subsided and she was able to safely move the rock to the ground. As it touched down she let out a huge breath of exhaustion, and splatted down onto her side. She took in big gulping breaths as Sunset moved over.

“That was amazing! You’ve already doubled your weight capacity just from today! That’s faster progress than I’ve seen… well, ever!”

“Great! Just… great…” panted Misty, too busy restoring oxygen to her body to feel any pride. “Can we… ppllleeaaaseeee…. Stop with the levitation for today? I think if I try any more of that I might explode…”

Sunset laughed, sitting by her limp body. “Sure, we can stop levitation for today. You’ve been working so hard at it!” she said, getting out her planning book again. Misty saw Twilight’s cutie mark on the cover again. That's what seemed to set her off last time…

…

Misty stood up, and leaned into Sunset for ‘support’, which was of course not the real reason. As their bodies connected, her element heated up.

As Sunset flicked through the book, Misty heard what was in her head.

“I should just be thankful she’s not dead.”

Misty jerked away suddenly, eyes wide. That was NOT what she expected to hear.

“You ok?” asked Sunset, concerned by her apprentice’s sudden jolt.

“Y-Yep! I’m all good!” she insisted. “I think I a-almost fell asleep there, aha…” She said, rubbing the back of her neck with her hoof whilst looking away.

Who wasn’t dead? Did she mean Twilight? Or… did she mean… Zipp? Was she thinking about how Misty had accidentally zapped her? How it was a wonder that she hadn’t been killed? That if Misty ever messed up again she’d kill somepony? She’d kill everypony? She’d release a spell so powerful that it jolted everything and everypony around them and kill the entire bay? Oh hoofness she was going to kill everypony oh no oh no that wasn’t good she didn’t want to kill anypony!

“Misty!”

Misty hadn’t even realised that she’d started to hyperventilate. Her horn started crackling and sparking with blue energy.. “I…” she tried to speak, but she couldn’t get any words out. Sunset stood up, eyebrows furrowed, determination in her eyes. “Ok. Misty. Deep breaths. Where are we.”

“W… W-We…” Misty said, swallowing a few times to free up her throat, eyes closing. “W-We are in a field near the woods.”

“Yes. Good.” Sunset said calmly, placing a hoof over her back. “And what can you see?”

Misty opened her eyes. “I s-see… the… trees… and I can see the… brighthouse in the distance and… i can see our bags over there…”

“Good. What can you feel?”

“I can feel… the grass.”

“Focus on the grass. Run your hoof over it.”

Misty nodded, and did just that. She looked at her hoof as she did. She felt every individual blade of grass gently brush against the sensitive sole of her hoof. She looked at the blades as they sprang back into position after her hoof drifted over them. Slowly, the crackling of her horn started to die down.

“Good…” said Sunset, squeezing her. Misty’s breathing and heart rate managed to go back to a normal level as she wiped her tearful eyes. She was still shaking a little. “You’re safe here… you have nothing to worry about” Sunset reaffirmed. Misty nodded, and leaned back into her. No energy was sparking out of her horn anymore. Her element suddenly got very, very hot.

“Poor girl… that Alicorn really did a number on her mental state, didn’t she?”

Misty jerked away again, letting out a yelp this time. Using her hoof she grabbed her element. She tore it off her neck and threw it as far as she could (a few meters). It landed in the grass with a tinkle. Her horn sparked again.

“Misty…” said Sunset quietly.

“I-It…” Misty started. She wasn’t quite ready to give the real reason… but she still wanted to tell the truth. So she decided to tell the truth, just not the whole truth.

“I-It got really hot.” she said, pointing at the crystal that now lay in the grass. “I wasn’t expecting it and it g-gave me a fright.”

“Is that what made you start to panic?” she asked, moving over to the crystal on the floor. She placed a hoof on it for half a second before jerking it away with a hiss. “Wow that IS hot…”

“Uhm… No. I… started thinking about… t-the spell I cast that hurt Zipp. And it kind of… spiralled from there.” she said with a little whimper as she held her head again. “A-And when I get anxious like that and h-have been using magic, it starts to burst out of my horn and gets really strong.” she said, laying down in shame.

“I see…” said Sunset, tilting her head. “And that’s what lead to the lightning bolt, right?”

Misty nodded guiltily.

“Okay… so your magic gets stronger when you’re anxious?” said Sunset, putting two and two together.

“Great…” groaned Misty. “Good thing I’m always anxious then…”

“Hmm…” she said. “I’d like to try something, if that’s ok. One more spell for today, and then we’re done, alright?”

Misty nodded weakly, slowly sliding up into a sitting position.

“Ok… something I learned a long while ago is that I can channel my negative emotions into something useful. In this case…” she said as she started moving around her, picking up a few rocks and planks of wood they had brought for training purposes.

Misty tilted her head a little. “H-How can anxiety be useful?”.

“Small levels of anxiety can be helpful at times. Obviously though, when anxiety goes unchecked?” she said as she finished placing the last plank of wood. “Well… I think you know what can happen.”

Misty’s ears drooped.

“But that energy you produce is seriously powerful… and if channelled correctly could easily become a powerful weapon against any who would harm you or your friends!”

Misty was on her hooves now, looking up at the 6 foot structure that Sunset had made. It was a pile of a few large rocks with planks leaned against the side and front.

“Okay…” she said. “Now… you don’t need to do this if you don’t want to-”

“I want to.” Misty said quickly. She desperately wanted a way to have her inner turmoil be useful. Somehow.

“Got it. I’m going to need you to… well, think about things that get you anxious. Just so we can get the sparks going.”

Misty shuddered, but nodded. She shut her eyes, her mind immediately going to Zipp laying on the floor with the scorch match across her side. Pipp’s words echoed in her mind…

“I think you’ve done enough.”

She winced, and a few small sparks started appearing around her horn.

“Ok! Ok… good! Now… focus your energy on the tip of your horn…” said Sunset calmly. Misty let out a whimper as she did. A small ball of energy started to form just above her horn. She whimpered more; this wasn’t a fun experience at all. The ball began to get even bigger and more erratic; before the energy had just been dissipating into the air but now that it was being retained it was stockpiling up.

“Ok! Now! Open your eyes! Direct it at the target!” she said excitedly. Misty opened her eyes. Her vision was hazy again, but she tried her best. With a loud cry, she threw her head forward. The ball of energy was let loose, and a small bolt was let out. It zipped through the air, smashing into the target. Misty watched at the first board in front of her snapped in two, falling to the floor. Her ears dropped a little.

“That was…” she started to say but was interrupted by the sudden hug from Sunset.

“Amazing??? That was your first try!” she said, squeezing her. “You listened to what I said and just… did it! I’ve never known ANYPONY to pick this stuff up as quick as you are!” she said proudly.

Misty could feel the pride emanating from Sunset as she was embraced, and an embarrassed flush crossed her face. “T-Thanks…” she said quietly. A small smile crossed her face… she did an ok job there, didn’t she? Even if she had to get anxious to do it. “I… Uhm…” she coughed a bit. “I’d rather that we didn’t do that one again for a while though, I-If that’s ok.”

“Of course. Even if we never practise it again, it will at least mean you know how to channel it if things get real bad again!” she said. “Do you feel better now that you used the spell?”

Misty thought about it. The usual anxious pit in her stomach did feel smaller…

She smiled, and nodded. “Y-Yeah, I guess it does feel a bit better!”

“Well!” said Sunset, moving away and glancing up at the sky. The sun was beginning to set. “You are definitely getting a gold star for this one!” she said, chuckling to herself as she started to pick up her book.

Misty’s eyes sparkled for a moment. “I… get a star?”

“Huh? No, Misty I was-” she said, turning back to see Misty’s wide eyed expression. She smirked.

“Yes, Misty. We can get you a gold star.”

“YIPPEE!”

Thump.

Misty’s eyes opened as she heard the strange noise from downstairs. A little pang of dreaded filled her stomach, as it was a sound that she was all too familiar with when she still lived with Opaline.

The sound of a book being thrown at a wall.

Misty had… often been the true target. But that was in the past. She didn’t have to worry about it now.

She sat up in bed, and looked around the room. Everypony was sleeping soundly. Pipp, Izzy, Sunny… her heart dropped. Zipp? Where was Zipp!? Had Opaline snuck in to kidnap and throw books at her? Oh no she was dead wasn’t she-

Misty heard the snort beside her, and glanced down. Zipp was sleeping with her mouth open nexto her. Misty rolled her eyes at herself, smiling a little. She was so silly…

Wait if everypony was here… then where did that noise come from?

Misty wouldn’t have to wait long as she heard hoofsteps coming up the ramp. She lay back down on her bed quickly, keeping one eye open a slit so she could see.

Sunset Shimmer had risen into the sleeping area, her face scrunched with anger. Her mane was gently glowing in spots reminiscent to that of embers of a recently used campfire. Her movement was stiff and agitated. Misty silently slid her hoof out of bed and placed it on her element, which was placed on her bedside table. Immediately, she felt the emotion.

It wasn’t clear to her, but the closest thing she could equate it to was jealousy. She winced a little; she was still learning how emotions worked, and this was an incredibly complex one, a swirling vortex of confusion and pain.

She tilted her head where she lay. That wasn’t what she thought she was going to detect. She had suspected rage or sadness… not this.

Sunset was gently mumbling something to herself. Misty couldn’t pick out individual words, but this was not a happy horsie.

She watched as Sunset moved to the middle of the elevator and pressed the switch. The device quietly whirred into action, and up Sunset went. The last thing Misty saw of her face was tears rolling down them, looking up to the next level as it vanished from view.

Misty stayed sitting up, staring at the centre of the room for a few minutes more. Nopony else seemed to have been woken by Sunset. It was just Misty, alone with her thoughts. Frowning, she lay back down in her bed.

This certainly seemed like something that was worth asking her about…

She looked over at Zipp who was still soundly sleeping beside her.

Zipp had said not to pry…

She sighed, and closed her eyes. She wanted to know what was wrong with her… but she didn’t want to be irritated. She would continue to help distract her from whatever it was.

If it was really serious, she was sure that Sunset would tell her…

Right?

As Misty drifted off into sleep once more, she could have sworn she heard two voices coming from the balcony above her.

How to Perform with Pizzaz

Part 3: How to perform with pizzaz

How to Perform with Pizzaz.

It was a late start for Misty. She had spent most of the morning laying in bed with Zipp, the pair of ponies just talking and laughing with each other. Misty had decided to keep seeing Sunset last night to herself; it felt to her like something that Sunset wouldn’t particularly like anypony else knowing about. Hooves touching, Misty could feel the radiant affection that Pipp had for her. This made her feel all giddy. She had to stop touching her every now and again to wiggle with excitement. It was good to know that even though she found days hard, sometimes she could just forget everything wrong and bad, and just think about the good. It helped when the good liked you back.

Eventually, they got up, and Misty decided to show Zipp some of what she had learned.

“SO… Zipppp……” she said slowly, standing up on the bed. Zipp was still laying down, eyebrow raised.

“Whats up, Mists?”

“Well I-” Misty paused, tilting her head as she looked at Zipp. She narrowed her eyes. Zipp looked concerned.

“All good there?”

“Yeah, I’m fine! Just trying to figure out… uhm…” she said, blushing a bit. “I like… when you call me Mists… so I’m trying to think of a nickname to call you so you can… maybe feel good also.”

Zipp’s grin just widened more, and she sat up. She winced a little; her bandages were almost ready to come off, but they did still hurt a bit. “Well.. I’m waiting?”

“Uhm… how about… Zephyrina?” she suggested. Zipp let out a loud laugh.

“Misty! That's just my name!” she laughed.

“Huh?” Misty said, confused. “But your name is Zipp?”

“Yeah, but that’s short for Zephyrina! I prefer Zipp because it feels less royal and stuffy! Did i never say?”

“No??!?!?!!?!” Misty said in utter bewilderment. “I-Is Pipp short for Pipperina?”

“No, she’s just Pipp.” said Zipp.

“But your names rhyme!”

“They sure do.” replied Zipp with a :3 face. Misty put a hoof to her head but was smiling wide. She was disappointed that she hadn’t known this, but could certainly see the funny side.

“... Would just… Z work? Like… Zee?” she said sheepishly. Zipp considered it for a few moments before the smile raised on her face.

“Z works perfectly” replied Zipp, giving her a little nuzzle. “Anyway! What was it you wanted to show me?”

“Well! Z! Hehe” she said, getting a bit flustered with herself as she began to giggle. This all seemed too silly to her, but she was glad she could finally do something as frivolous as this. The only nickname Oplaine had ever accepted was ‘great supreme fire alicorn Oplaine Arcana the great’. Not a very good name if you asked Misty. Or anypony.

“A-Anyway! You know how you aren’t really able to fly at the moment…” Continued Misty.

“Yep.” she said, her smile dropping a tiny bit. Misty knew how important flying was for her girlfriend and she assumed it must have been torture not to be able to spread her wings how she wanted.

“Well… stay still…” She said, and ignited her horn. Zipp found herself gently floating in the air, her legs dangling a little. She was smiling wide as she did, but decided to push her a little.

“Okay, ok, very good… but any unicorn can do this! What can our MISTY do!”

“T-This!” she said, and with care and precision, started to levitate Zipp all around the brighthouse like a child with a toy plane. Zipp cried out in surprise at the speed and control that the magic surrounding her had, but started to laugh and cheer as Misty’s magic caused her to do some spins in the air as well as a summersault. Zipp had to tuck in her head to avoid bashing it; (Misty apologised profusely).

Eventually, Misty finished the flight by trying to place her down on the bed. This didn't work out as planned, as Zipp came in for a rough landing. Zipp held out her hooves and ended up knocking Misty down. Zipp’s hooves ended up either side of Misty, the unicorn staring up at the pegasi, their muzzles inches away. Both started flushing furiously, with Zipp raising an eyebrow.

“You… uhm… look pretty from this angle…” Mumbled Misty, a sheepish smile crossing her face.

“Well you look good from every angle” Replied Zipp who’s pupils narrowed in shock at realising they were not the only ones in the room.

“Am I interrupting something?”

Zipp and Misty both let out a cry of shock and embarrassment as they scrambled back into position, sitting next to each other and both looking at the Sunset Shimmer who had just entered the room.

Both Zipp and Misty started hastily explaining at the same time what was going on with desperation, only to stop as they realised Sunset was laughing.

“Don’t worry about it. You’re cute together! Anyway…” she said, reaching into her bag with her magic. “I’ve got today's lesson ready for you, Misty!”

Out of the bag flew a flyer, which landed on the bed in front of Misty. Misty looked down at it with Zipp looking over her shoulder.

“Okay, with me! Left, right, turn, hop! Left, right, turn, hop! Left, right, spin, stamp! Then up, up and pose!”

Pipp’s melodic instructions were being given to the camera. Jazz and Rocky were behind her, mimicking her moves perfectly. At Pipp’s final instruction, the trio posed perfectly as small confetti cannons burst behind them.

“And that, Pippsqueaks, is how you do the dance for my new song, ‘Don’t panic, we’re here!’ Every time you feel scared? Just do the dance! Anything you are worried about will vanish in a flash! Unless it’s… something actually dangerous. Then run. Anyway, thanks for watching~’ she said, and grinned. She awkwardly shuffled up to the camera and turned it off. Jazz and Rocky let out a sigh of exhaustion.

“Great work today, Ponies!” Pipp said happily as she started moving things around on her phone. “This one is going to be a BANGER!”

“You said that about the last five…” groaned Jazz.

“And I was right every single time~” trilled Pipp smugly.

“What about ‘Mr Brighthoof?” Piped up Rocky.

“Thaaaaats the exception that proves the rule, hun!” Said Pipp quickly.

We don’t talk about Mr Brighthoof.

Jazz was about to protest but was interrupted as the bell to Mane Melody jingled. Immediately, she put on a smile. Time to serve a customer!

“Welcome to Mane Melody, the one stop shop… for all…” she said, but her speech slowed as she saw who had entered.

Sunset had walked into the shop, giving Pipp a wave. Pipp waved back cheerily. Jazz and Rocky were left staring.

“Is now a bad time?” Sunset asked.

“Of course not!” Pipp chirped, trotting over and practically threw Sunset into one of the chairs. Jazz and Rocky snapped out of whatever

“What will be today? Restyle? Hooficure? I could even sort you out with some new piercings~” she said, squinting a little at the black rings on her upper ear. “That’s… strange…” She muttered to herself. The earrings didn’t seem to be threaded through the usual piercing holes. Instead, the metal almost seemed to meld with the cartilagearound it. It almost seemed like they were just part of the ear.

“Hmm? Oh! Yeah, that. No clue.” She shrugged. “I think it’s a weird effect of whatever magic it is that changes my form. Anyway! I wanted to- HEY!”

Pipp felt the scissors in her hooves fly away as Sunset levitated them up. “Whaaat? I was just going to give your mane a quick touch up?”

“I like it how it is, thanks.” She said firmly. Pipp rolled her eyes. “Finnneeeeee! I guess this… style is kind of extra dimensional…” she said, looking Sunset up and down. Sunset tilted her head as she fluttered away towards her scissors.

Pipp eventually got back onto her hooves and went over to Sunset again. “Sooo… if you’re not here to get glammed up, what exactly are you here for?”

“Well…” said Sunset, and reached into her bag with her magic. She got out a small flyer she had found outside. Pipp’s eyes widened.

The flyer was one that she had made a few days ago. She was planning to have a little concert inside the salon tomorrow evening, but Minty had dropped out due to a sore throat. She had been desperately trying to find a replacement but to no avail. But now it seemed a frontliner had dropped out of the sky for her! Well, dropped out of a portal. Or something. She didn’t know how it worked.

“You want to preform!?” she said, her eyes sparkling as she shuffled up to her.

“Kinda…” she said. “I’d like to at least play an instrument! No singing for me this time, though!”

“Oh… Annnnn instrumental set?” Asked Pipp, her ears flattening a bit. She wasn’t really a fan of music without words. She got bored too quickly.

“Nope! We’ll have vocals!”

“But if you’re not singing, then who is?”

“M-ME!?” Misty said with surprise, dropping the apples she had been levitating in the air as practice.

Sunset nodded. “You betcha! You’re down to sing tomorrow night!”

“WHAT!?” Misty squeaked, shaking her head. “Nononono, ahaha, uhhh, NO? NO thank you! Sunset! Miss! Teacher! Professor! No thanks!”

“Come onnn, Misty!” said Sunset, moving up to the bed and smiling supportively. “You’re doing such a good job with your progress already! The main thing holding you back is your confidence.”

Misty stared at her for a moment before forlornly looking to Zipp for support. Zipp made an awkward face.

“She… isn’t wrong…” she agreed (Misty’s ears drooped), “But I don’t really see how singing is going to help her. You are here to teach her magic, after all.”

“I am teaching her magic! The magic of SONG!” Said Sunset, sitting down and getting out her notebook. She was flipping between pages as Misty had a little crisis to herself.

“I’ve barely even sung in front of a mirror before… how am I meant to sing in front of a crowd?” she said, leaning into Zipp who patted her back.

“I’m not the biggest fan… but Pipp talked me into it a few times.” Said Zipp softly. “And It was… liberating in a way? Just wished we had sung something a little cooler than the girly pop music she had me sing-” Zipp said with a chuckle. Misty smiled but there wasn’t much feeling behind it as she looked at Sunset Shimmer.

“Will it just be me on stage?” she asked nervously.

“Of course not! I’ll be there, and that strange pony named Onyx is joining us too on the drums! Weird girl. Might be a descendant of Maud…”

“Maud?”

“Doesn’t matter. Anyway, you won’t be alone!” she said. “So don’t worry about it! Now, meet me on the roof in 10 minutes, practice will begin!” she said, and left for the elevator.

Misty groaned, and slid the curtain around the bed. She lay down on her back and let out a big sigh. “Zzziiipppp….” she moaned. “Can you tell Sunset Shimmer that I don’t have to do thisssssssssss……..”

“I mean…” said Zipp, joining her with a hoof over misy’s chest, “She IS here to help you… so she must think it’s what's best for you.” Misty let out a little wince at this and she gave a little shiver.. Zipp’s head turned towards her. “You ok?”

“Y-Yeah. I…” she said, words getting tangled in her throat. She moved her hooves around to signify how she was having trouble getting the words out. Zipp studied her face, before letting out a sigh as she realised.

“Something that she used to say to you?” said Zipp softly.

Misty sighed and nodded, forelegs falling back to her sides. She was able to speak again after a few failed attempts.

“Shoot… if I can't even say a simple sentence to somepony I love alot, how am I meant to sing?”

“I know you can do it, Mists…”

“I don’t know if I can…”

[hb]

After some vocal warmups, Sunset and Pipp had started to train up Misty! Obviously, they weren’t expecting a flawless performance; Misty had never done this before. Despite this, Misty certainly had natural talent and was even able to hit some of the trickier notes in the practise song. After about an hour and a quick vocal rest, Sunset handed her the new song.

“Here! One of my friends wrote this! It really gets her pumped up, so I figured that it could do you some good too!” she said. Misty’s head tilted.

“Awesome as I… wanna be?” she said slowly. Her ears flicked a little as she read the lyrics. “Uhm…” she said quietly, and tried to get the words out. She didn’t like the lyrics too much. Well, that wasn’t strictly true. She thought they were fun, but they didn’t really fit her.

“Ready to go?” asked Sunset excitedly as she wrapped the guitar round her shoulders. Misty put on a fake smile and nodded with a ‘mmmhm!’

“Ok! Let’s go!” said Sunset, and started playing the intro music. Pipp was there to help Misty with timing and moved her hoof to the high tempo beat. Once it was Misty’s turn to sing, she pointed!”

“Awesome as I wanna be…” Sang Misty, but there wasn’t much energy behind it.”

“... I’m awesome, take caution, watch out for me, I'm awesome as I wanna be.” she said, Sunset doing a big finish on the guitar. Pipp clapped enthusiastically, but Misty got the sense that she was clapping for Sunset and not her.

“Great work, Misty!” said Sunset. “You hit all the notes! Now we just have to get you to REALLY put all your heart into it! Get some energy behind it!”

“B-But…” she mumbled, shuffling her hooves nervously. She looked up at Sunset’s excited face.

She couldn’t say no.

“... Can I go get some water?” she asked quickly.

“Of course, be back up soon!” Sunset replied, going back to tune her guitar. Pipp fluttered around her, asking her how she learnt to play and how difficult it was to play a stringed instrument with hooves.

Misty’s legs were already shaking as the elevator started going down. As she descended out of view, she burst into tears. She did NOT like that song. She did NOT enjoy the idea of singing in front of a crowd. She did NOT want to do this!

She took a few deep breaths as the elevator reached the bedroom floor. Her immediate trajectory was towards Zipp, who was at her workstation with her headphones on, gently bobbing her head up and down to her music (she was listening to mr Brighthoof). Misty made a beeline towards her but then suddenly stopped mid hoofstep.

The words she had said echoed around in her mind.

“It's what's best for you…”

Zipp wanted her to do it! She couldn’t tell her. She couldn’t say anything.

Literally. Words weren’t coming out of her mouth.

She bolted down the ramp to the main floor and leapt onto the sofa, head buried in a pillow. It had overwhelmed her so much. She felt her body curl around the pillow as a weird popping noise started which did not help with the feeling.

She wasn’t sure how long had passed, but her tears were only interrupted by the feeling of something hard pressing against her shoulder. She looked up to see Izzy next to her, levitating a ceramic bowl of popcorn.

“Eat!” she said, her smile not dropping even as she saw Misty’s huge wet eyes that made her look like a cat who had just been soaked in a bath. Misty didn’t have to be told twice as she immediately buried her head into the huge bowl of popcorn, crunching like an animal that hadn’t been fed in weeks. Izzy just rubbed her back as she did. The contact gave let Misty read Izzy’s current emotion: ’Supportive Worry.’

“Good work! Now, Misty, I GOTTA level with you. Not to be like that, but your sparkle is, like, TOTALLY off. And as chief sparkle coordinator for Maretime bay? That’s not good. What's up?” she asked.

Misty swallowed a mouthful of popcorn, and let out a big sigh. Izzy always had an incredible way of reaching through to ponies; it was just so easy to talk to her. Her free spirited attitude made her advice always seem all the more genuine. It took a few moments for her to get her words out again.

“I… S-Sorry.” she said. Izzy tilted her head a little but didn’t say anything. “I… I don’t want to sing. S-Sunset wants me to sing in front of a crowd at Pipp’s tomorrow night to ‘help with my confidence’. But I REALLY don’t want to do that? It just sounds really stressful when I could be at home NOT stressing about it? And if I do well they might want me to do it again and it's just- it's just not me, you know? The song doesn’t even fit! I’m really NOT awesome as I want to be… It doesn't feel right at all!” she said all in on breath and took some deep gulping to get the air back into her system afterwards. Izzy’s smile dropped a little.

“Wow…” she said. “That was a LOT of words.”

Misty nodded as Izzy mulled it over in her mind, making occasional ‘Hmm…” and “Aha! Wait, no..” noises. As Misty had almost finished the popcorn, Izzy finally chirped up.

“GOT IT! I know what we have to do!” she said. Misty’s ears perked up hopefully.

“We go up there, and we tell them you don’t want to do it!” she said triumphantly. Misty groaned.

“Izzy, that’s the opposite of what I want to do right now…”

Izzy’s head tilted. “Sorry, I don’t follow.”

“Well… Sunset really wants me to do it…” said Misty sadly.

“...So?” said Izzy with confusion.

Misty looked up at her with equal confusion. Did she just not get it?

“So if I tell her I don’t want to do it, she’ll get sad?” she said. Izzy’s expression didn’t shift.

“But… how do you feel now?”

“Not good.”

“Would you telling her you didn’t want to sing that song, or, well, at ALL, make you feel better?”

“I guess…”

“Sooooo….” said Izzy, tilting her head the other way. “If it would help you feel happy, why wouldn’t you do it?”

“Because she… She shouldn’t have to be sad.” said Misty slowly.

Izzy smiled. “And neither should you, Misty.”

Misty looked over at her.

“You deserve to be comfortable, Misty. It doesn’t matter what anypony does or doesn’t want you to do.”

Misty’s bottom lip wobbled.

Izzy was right.

“B-But… If I don’t sing like that… H-How will I… become confident?” she said quietly.
“Well, I think it'd be pretty confident of you to tell the smokin’ hot unicorn from another dimension that you don’t want to sing their dumb song.” Izzy said with a smug smirk.

Misty laughed a little, and nodded. “Ok…” she said, and stood up.

Her legs immediately started to shake.

“...Can you come with me!”

“Of course! That's what friends do!” she said, giving up and bumping her hip as she went.

“So like…. I don’t understand how does playing a guitar with those weird finger things you were talking about translates into playing the guitar. I just,,,, first the phones now this, I feel like my whole world is falling apart here, Sunset- OH! Izzy! Misty! Hi!” Pipp’s existential crisis was stopped as the elevator rose up.

“HI!” said Sunset, waving. “Ready to start again?”

Misty practically hid behind Izzy.

“Well, about that! Misty has something she’d like to say!” said Izzy, and she moved to the side. Misty felt like a spotlight was on her. She gulped. She thought the entire sentence through. Twice. She could do this.

“I… Would not like to sing in front of a crowd, and I especially don’t want to sing that song. I- D…” her flow left for a moment and she had to swallow. “I don’t feel comfortable doing it.”

Sunset’s face dropped a little. She looked at her hooves, frowning. “Shoot…” She mumbled.

Misty’s ears dropped. Oh goddd she’d made her sad this was the worst this was the WORST.

Misty almost backpedalled, about to insist she was joking and DID want to do it, but Sunset’s next words stopped her.

“I am so, SO sorry.” she said, standing up and giving her a hug. Misty was taken aback, the emotion carrying through the contact being ‘regret’. “I didn’t listen to you earlier… And I didn’t really give you a chance to speak when we were practising.” she continued, but as she pulled away, Sunset was smiling.

“I’m proud that you managed to tell me.” she reaffirmed. Misty flushed nervously, looking over at Izzy who was grinning wide. “Toooold you~” she said in a singing way.

“Well, this is all well and good… but now who’s going to sing at my show?” said Pipp glumly.

“OH! Wait, for YOUR SHOW!?” said Izzy suddenly. “You’re running it!? Why didn’t you tell me!?”

Pipp blinked. “Izzy we sleep in the same room I told you at least four times-”

“I’m so IN! HEHE! I can sing Mr Brighthoof! Hmmm,,,, but we’ll need pyrotechnics… and big sparkles… OUGH but there is no time! Where on earth am I going to find 2 ponies who’d be able to-”

She had been spinning as she thought out loud, her eyes landing on Sunset and Misty.

Sunset grinned.

“Misty? Go grab your spellbook. I think we will be learning some magic after all!”

“WHY CAN’T WE ALL JUST FORGET ABOUT MR BRIGHTHOOF??? IT'S A SONG ABOUT ME FINDING MY BOYFRIEND CHEATING ON ME WITH A ROYAL GUARD-”

“BRIGHTEN UP YOUR FURRY FLOOOF! COS IM MR BRIGHT HOOF!” Bellowed Izzy into the microphone, her slitted glasses sliding down her muzzle as she went.

“Ok! Now, Misty!” whispered Sunset. Misty nodded excitedly, and powered up her horn from the pairs position just off the stage.

A shooting firework flew into the air, and burst as Izzy did a big jump in the air. The purple and blue sparkled down on the cheering audience.

“BECAUSE I'M MR BRIIIHGHTTT HOOOOF!” Izzy screamed one more time, and as she did one final big slide on her knees, Sunset launched a huge illusionary blast of fire behind her.

The packed crowd of Mane Medley went wild (apart from Pipp who just clapped half heartedly).

“THHANNKK YOUUUUUUUUUU MARETIME BAY!” Izzy cried out as she waved at everypony. She quickly trotted back down the stage. As she left, the other two unicorns went to congratulate her but were swiftly intercepted by the sudden and aggressive tackle hug from Izzy.

“YOU TWO WERE INCREIBLE! YOU ARE SPARKLING SO HARD RIGHT NOW!” she declared.

“T-That was fun!” Replied Misty. “I.. I really enjoyed helping without having to be in the spotlight!”

Izzy smirked a little. “And whoooooo was confident enough to tell Sunset that you didn’t want to do it?”
Misty shuffled a little.

“Me…”

Sunset grinned at Izzy. “Izzy, why aren’t you the one teaching here? You gave her a FAR better lesson than I ever could have!”

“Oh!” Izzy beamed. “It's because I can’t read. GOTTA GO!” she said, and happily ran out into the audience to sign autographs.

Sunset and Misty looked at each other for a few moments before bursting out into laughter.

“Come on, Morning Mist.” Sunset said, nudging Misty and pointing into the crowd. Zipp was by the door, smiling tiredly. “Lets head back to the brighthouse.”

“Should just be to the left of the bed!” Sunset called after Misty.

“Got it!” Misty replied as she trotted down the stairs.

The afterparty was going strong, and Misty had been sent to Sunset’s room to get the root beer she had brought from her world. Apparently it was completely different to the stuff in maritime bay! Wasn’t that something!

Misty found it pretty quickly, and turned to leave. But she didn’t.

Something had caught her eye.

An open book laying face down on the floor near the far wall. Misty carefully placed down the root beer and shuffled over to it.

The book didn’t look dissimilar to her spellbook. On the back there was a strange symbol; it looked like a cross between Sunset Shimmer’s cutie mark and… was that Twilight Sparkle’s cutie mark?

Misty glanced back at the stairs leading up to the main party room. She could hear Sunset talking to Sunny loudly…

Misty gulped, and gently flipped the book.

The page that was open seemed to one from around midway through the book.

Misty’s eyes widened a little as she looked at it, realising what it was.

“Dear Twilight Sparkle, Hi! Just arrived here in Maretime bay! It is so strange being here. It feels so much like home… well, my first home anyway. But everything is so… different. I can’t quite explain it. You’d love it! And I KNOW other you would be OBSESSED! Hehe… anyway, I’m going to turn in for the night! Hope you have a good evening!”

Misty recognised Sunset’s handwriting from the pair's own book letters to each other. Her eyes moved down the page. She was… talking to Twilight Sparkle!? The one from her world? The ‘human’ one?

“Dear Sunset Shimmer, amazing! I hope you and Misty have a good time! You’re going to be an amazing teacher, just stick to the plan we made and you’ll be golden! Will write more tomorrow, can’t right now because-”

“Misty?”

Misty let out a strangled yelp as she quickly flipped the book down and spun round. Sunny was standing at the top of the stairs, smiling.

“Did you find the drinks Sunset was talking about? She was worried you couldn’t find them.” asked Sunny, oblivious to Misty’s investigation.

“Y-Yep! They’re just there! Sorry, I thought I saw a mouse. J-Just my imagination though!” she said quickly. Sunny just smiled and nodded, and picked up the root beer. “Come on then! We’re all missing you at the party! Zipp wants to see you upstairs in your bed too.”

Misty blushed a little.

“C-Coming!” she said, and trotted after her, but not after taking one last glance at the book behind her. She already had an anxious pit in her stomach from just looking at it…

She remembered the sound she had heard before she’d seen Sunset go up to the roof 2 nights ago. It only stood to reason that it was the book that had been thrown…

What had Twilight said to her that had gotten her so mad?

Misty turned around to follow Sunny out, but her mind was full of speculation.

In the corner of the room, a shape moved from its hiding spot behind the crate, watching Misty leave.

The shape tilted its black head, and made a warped hissing noise as it started to change.

It had found a target.

Author's Note

Story time!

in 2015 i wrote a fnaf fanfiction called mangles mind swapping madness (don't bother trying to find it it has been SCRUBBED!) and it was 30k words long

but each chapter was only 1000 words and like. looking back on that now i am just left wondering

wtf how badly paced was that fanfiction kajsbdjaf now a thousand words is like. 2 characters having a short conversation kasjdbahs anyway numbers aren't real.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter! The next one should be very interesting, its an idea i've had for a while!! and definitely isn't foreshadowed by the end of this one kahfusoid cv juihfdv

How to Investigate with Introspection